You can tell your friends they are wrong :-) It's a biological impossibility for the long, wispy shoots you see at the branch extremities to be rootstock. And what you are seeing is entirely normal. Vigorous, immature growth is very common on many Acer species - JM's in particular - and will typically present with very long internodes and often, juvenile foliage. The result is the long wispy shoots you see and the difference in foliage appearance. It tends to be very seasonal and by this time next year, you won't notice it at all......except for possibly a similar phenomenon occurring then :-) Since it IS seasonal and the foliage on these shoots next season should be the same as the rest of the tree, you don't NEED to do anything. If they bug you tremendously, you can simply head them back to a length comparable with the rest of the canopy. This tends to be more of a growth phenomenon associated with younger, immature trees and only with certain cultivars. They eventually outgrow it.

Francy -- I've always had TERRIFIC luck with batches of BM turning out the same. The only time I have ever had a mismatch was when I first purchased one of their little samples and then I got a gallon and the gallon was different. Noticeably different. But that had just been a sample and it hadn't been mixed there in the shop. I have absolutely every belief that your next batch will match. It would be one thing if you decided to get a different paint (like Regal instead of Impervo), but if you go to the same store and get the same Impervo, you should be as right as rain!

1) I have these weeds in the first two pictures ALL OVER my lawn this year. I didn't do pre-emergent because I don't want the extra chemicals. But I spot sprayed all of them with Weed-b-gone and it's been a week or two and they are turning brown and dying. But when you touch them they pop a whole bunch of seed like things out(i mean A LOT). So weird. Are they actual seeds and are they dead? 2) What are the green weeds in the last two photos. The weed B Gone didn't do anything. These are in a lot of spots as well, but not as bad. 3) I understand that corn gluten meal works as a pre-emergent. Can anyone attest to how well it works and where a good place to find at a reasonable cost?

Hi Laura - thanks, very helpful. The issue that also troubles me is the discolouration and thinning (sort of even brownish tone) of the stem of the new shoot if you can see on the photo. The stem sort of collapses and becomes woody. Some other new shoots which had the same, turned black and died back.... not sure what that is